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Ram Dass and Raghu have a conversation around social action and keeping our quietness and love in 2017.

Ram Dass talks about balancing ourselves, social responsibility, why he puts President Trump on his puja (prayer) table, and cultivating love for everyone no matter their beliefs. Ram Dass leaves us with perspective and insight on keeping our quietness and love in 2017.

Show Notes

No Politics (Opening) – Ram Dass talks about his recent visit with his friend, California Governor Jerry Brown. Despite the political struggles in California, the old friends stuck to topics like love and Buddhism.

The Long, Long View (5:50) – Raghu gets on the topic of Trump, the new year, and some advice he got from Danny Goldberg about our political climate. Danny acknowledges that we have gone through dark times, but notes that there always will be the light that follows.

While Danny likes to take the long view approach to things, Ram Dass prefers to take the long, long view. He and Raghu talk about Maharajji’s saying, “It’s perfect, it’s perfect.” They discuss the balance of social action and inner peace. Find out why Ram Dass put Trump on his puja, and why it is a practice we should all adopt.

“With this political scene, I don’t think we should sit back and be ‘just perfect.’ But I want to say, that in the social action, don’t do anything that you do with negativity, frustration, or anger. Because that will rile the opposition. Do your social action with love.”

Evil? (19:00) – Ram Dass and Raghu talk about the different concepts of evil and how that leads to polarization. How do we interact with others whose world view seems so destructive? The answer is to wait and see what will actually happen.

All of us in the U.S., as Americans and human beings–we are part of the same tribe. The people we might think have evil desires want the same things we do. It is important to wait and see what happens before creating a narrative.

“We have gotten into a thinking where Trump will step on our freedoms and on our way of life. But I think we are anticipating and I think that’s wrong because past and future are the storylines. We don’t have to be caught in the storyline. Let’s just get here now, at the moment.”

Maharajji and Social Responsibility (32:00) – Ram Dass talks about how his compassion and wisdom are guided by Maharajji. Raghu describes the experience of putting Trump in the same heart space as Maharajji. The unconditional love that is Maharajji enveloped the image of Trump and Raghu was able to see the same thing Ram Dass does.

The conversation ends with a word on responsibility and social action; helping us to bring love in 2017.

“Raghu, you and I, we had Maharajji. We look at Maharajji and look at Trump, around real power and real wisdom, and then our fears dissipate. The people that are terribly afraid by this situation, they look at me and say, ‘Why isn’t he afraid?’ I have this compassion that is Maharajji and Trump, comparative.”

Listen to Sharon Salzberg and Danny Goldberg’s chat with Raghu about politics and love in 2017 over at Mindrolling.